Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas. The population of the city is 104,553. The city is home to Sheppard Air Force Base, which is home to the Air Force's largest technical training wing and the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program, the world's only multinationally staffed and managed flying training program chartered to produce combat pilots for both USAF and NATO. It also serves as the principal city and main hub for Western Texoma. It is also home to Midwestern State University, and to the Newby-McMahon Building (otherwise known as the "world's littlest skyscraper"), constructed downtown in 1919 and featured in Robert Ripley's Ripley's Believe It or Not!. Demographics As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the city is: 62.15% White (64,979) 20.00% Hispanic or Latino (20,910) 12.95% Black or African American (13,539) 4.90% Other (5,125) 19.2% (20,074) of Wichita Falls residents live below the poverty line. Theft rate statistics Wichita Falls' theft and murder rates are average for the bigger cities in Texas, but above average for the area that it's in, and one of the safer bigger cities in the state. The city reported 38 Pokemon thefts in 2018, and averages 6.77 murders a year. Pokemon See the Wichita County page for more info. Fun facts * Wichita Falls is in a very tornado-prone region, however, it has mostly been very lucky when it comes to tornadoes, having not been struck by a violent one since 1916, but has been hit by a few weak ones. Burkburnett doesn't exactly have that same luck, though, having been completely incinerated by an F5 tornado on May 20th, 1957. * Despite some community efforts in the past, Wichita Falls has never had a Gym, the state league citing close proximity to Dallas/Fort Worth as the main factor in that. * Wichita Falls is the home of the annual Hotter'N Hell Hundred, the largest single day century bicycle ride in the United States and one of the largest races in the world. The race started as a way for the city to celebrate its centennial in 1982. The race takes place over a weekend in August, and there are multiple events for people to participate in. * There's no shortage of amenities Wichita Falls has to offer. Any fast food and chain restaurant you can think of, most big retail names, hotels/motels, dollar stores, plenty of local restaurants and businesses, you name it. Wichita Falls Regional Airport shares its runways and taxiways with Sheppard Air Force Base. The city also has plenty of contest halls and showcase theaters, Kickapoo Downtown Theater, the Texoma Electric Mills northwest of the city home to many different species of Electric-types, and the largest of its kind in the United States, Lake Wichita, a popular recreational destination, many parks, The Champions Course at Weeks Park, Wayland Baptist University, Texoma Battle Academy, Bailey Music Enterprises, the Texoma Western Music Museum, plenty of shopping center, Sikes Senter Mall, plenty of car dealerships, Flying J and Love's truck stops, and plenty more. * Wichita Falls uses a Togedemaru as its mascot. * Wichita Falls was once home to offices of several oil companies and related industries, along with oil refineries operated by the Continental Oil Company (now Conoco Phillips) until 1952 and Panhandle Oil Company American Petrofina) until 1965. Both firms continued to use a portion of their former refineries as gasoline/oil terminal facilities for many years. * Wichita Falls is the birthplace and hometown of current governor Stephen Ganassi, and the birthplace of country musician Keith Stegall and of legendary Pokemon battler Nico Rosenberg. Category:Texas Cities